Updated: 06 APR 17 Articles CONTACT! RGHQ-51 Military Reference Pages		Radio Voice Procedure 5. FIVE BY FIVE

The RTO's Page The RTO's Wiki Links Page 1 Introduction & Equipment. 2 Basic Radio Operations - includes useful learning aids. 3 NATO Phonetic Code 4 Prowords 5 FIVE BY FIVE 6 Authentication Codes 7 Message Precedence 8 Radio Frequencies The Profanity Codes ARAN

The RST Reporting Code IMPORTANT! be aware that you only need to understand this code if you are using analog radio equipment, as digital kit does not suffer from signal strength or readability issues. In digital even the weakest of signals, if successful, will be reproduced with perfect clarity. Only if the signal becomes so weak that it fails to arive at all, will it fall off the "digital cliffe", meaning that you can go from "LOUD AND CLEAR" or ""FIVE BY FIVE", that is perfect, to "ZERO BY ZERO", zip, nada, nothing at all, just clear air and silence. Therefore in practise to find out if anyone can actually hear your signal, you use the Proword phrase "RADIO CHECK", to which you will get either "ROGER" or nothing at all. FYI terms like "FIVE BY FIVE" get used in non radio related applications to mean that whatever is under discussion is working really, really well. Phrases like "IN THE PIPE, FIVE BY FIVE" as used by the Drop Ship pilot in the 1986 movie "Aliens", to mean that they were on course and all was right with the world, are oft quoted by Marines, see the clip HERE. The Proword request "RADIO CHECK" meaning what is my signal strength and readability, that is "how well do you hear me?" is normally answered with an abbreviated version of the RST Code (Readability-Strength-Tone Code). The "T" for Tone was formally used in reporting upon Morse Code signals, and is not used in radio telephony. The use of the abbreviation RST is purely a continuation of historically established radio convention, particularly as in voice work it is given in the order "S-R". NB: Morse Code is still in service with Special Forces units, as it affords excellent terrain penotration, and extreme long range readability due to its simplicity. RTO's should familiarise themselves with the full application of the RST Code if they are considering CW work (Continuous Wave, aka Morse work). You will also find it useful with voice work, if using other than digital modes of operation, but you can omit the Tone element. You may use either the five numbers or their associated phrases as set out below. They are used to describe the incoming signal, always Strength first and Readability second (in voice communications), with the word "BY" in between. For example "FIVE BY FIVE", meaning "LOUD AND CLEAR", or you can use the actual Prowords "LOUD AND CLEAR" instead. # Strength Readability 5 LOUD Your signal is very strong. CLEAR Excellent quality. 4 GOOD Your signal strength is good. READABLE Quality is satisfactory. 3 WEAK Your signal strength is weak. UNREADABLE The quality of your transmission is so bad that I cannot read you. 2 VERY WEAK Your signal strength is very weak. DISTORTED Having trouble reading you because your signal is distorted. 1 FADING Your signal strength fades to such an extent that continuous reception cannot be relied upon. WITH INTERFERENCE Trouble reading due to interference. End of Document

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